


among the ashes

by kathleenfergie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Camelot, Dark Emma, Dark Emma Swan, Dark One's Dagger, Dark Swan, F/M, Oneshot, Post-Finale, Post-Season/Series 04 Finale, everyone is sad lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4408136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathleenfergie/pseuds/kathleenfergie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>he thinks he’s seeing a ghost, at first. </p><p>he’ll turn to leave the diner and lock eyes with her in the corner booth, lounging, watching all the patrons sip their coffee and grumble about weather.</p><p>she comes to the ship at night, he hears her soft footsteps on the deck above. </p><p>post finale oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	among the ashes

**Author's Note:**

> heyo, back with another post finale oneshot bc i'm too into this arc already lol. not the biggest fan of emma's new look but eh this show disappoints me more than half the time. i'm sure it will be better on screen. 
> 
> i'm procrastinating writing my chapter fic by doing this sorry friends. this was actually super easy to write though and that always feels nice so hey
> 
> but yeah killy is v sad. everyone is v sad. 
> 
> don't own anybody.

he thinks he's seeing a ghost, at first, and then realizes she's actually there. just standing in the background of everything, only showing herself to him. she's too pale, all the gold light that used to lay beneath her skin and in the strands of her hair gone. he thinks of elsa then, of when emma was dying behind a frozen wall and he couldn't do anything to stop it. he feels the same way now, when he spots her.

it's always unexpected; he'll turn to leave the diner and lock eyes with her in the corner booth, lounging, watching all the patrons sip their coffee and grumble about weather. it's painful, the way she looks at him, like he isn't even there. he's stopped trying to speak to her, anytime he'd move in her direction she'd disappear, iridescent fog engulfing the booth.

months have passed since she took the darkness from regina. he's spent them watching snow sniffle and wipe her eyes at the empty table setting, grabbing the infant and pressing his small face to her chest. david is tight lipped and hard, his jaw clenching at any mention of his lost daughter, the hope that they'll find merlin dwindling.

henry floats in between them all, never staying more than a week at any one place. his ever growing teenage body too long for his bed at the charming's, he sleeps in the loft bed that still smells like his mother and fights through nightmares. regina can hardly keep him at the manor long enough before he goes traipsing around the sorcerer's mansion for answers.

killian often has to venture into the woods at sundown to bring him home, putting him in the small bed he keeps in the roger's cabin, the captain settling into his chair and putting his feet up on the desk. he sips rum and watches the boy sleep, the harbour's waves rocking him into a semi peaceful slumber.

she comes to the ship at night and he hears her soft footsteps on the deck above.

sometimes he'll go up to see her, though she'll never speak or acknowledge him. in public her hair is up in a tight bun, a stiff jacket and long black dress around her shoulders. at night, on his deck, her iced locks flow freely, her neck and chest bare. the dress is the same, all black cloth and tight bodice, but it isn't as harsh without the imposing collar.

she looks almost like the emma he knew before, the wind sweeping her hair up into a tornado, hands limp at her side and face soft. he circles her to see if she'll look at him or move, if she'll open her eyes and let him find the green sea beneath her lids. on the nights her eyes are open he comes toe to toe, staring into blank pupils. he yearns to touch her face, but he's smarter than that.

he knows her power, has been with david at the hospital as hikers' mangled bodies were brought in, some still clinging to life. the ones that live can never tell what attacks them, but in their hearts they all know it's her, can smell the magic in their wounds.

robin and his men move to the city, fear for the little one and their own lives driving them inward. it's strange to see them all with their crossbows and hunting gear, eating eggs in the morning at granny's. the woods become a forbidden place, people claiming to hear whispers from the trees.

henry makes a quip about  _harry potter_  (or was it  _the lord of the rings_? he can never keep modern tales straight) and snow manages to laugh at her grandson. despite the hollowness in it, the boy is glad to see a smile on her face. killian feels the same way, the shroud over the loft too heavy some days.

despite hugging it to his chest and sobbing that night, he's given the dagger to regina for safekeeping, emma having already ransacked every building in storybrooke for the damned weapon. the queen keeps it on her person at all times, the bags under her eyes growing darker each day. he sees the outline of its curved blade under her blazers and it makes him shudder, the name of his love etched into the steel.

emma's ghost is everywhere, wreaking havoc as if it's her unfinished business.

the mansion catches fire while he and henry are inside one day, pirate dragging boy through flame to the gates, both collapsing onto the concrete road. he sees her figure among the smoke and knows that this will not be the last time she tries to burn them all.

they are no more closer to camelot or merlin than they were in the beginning, and henry weeps, hacking as the smoke clears from his lungs. it is painful to watch the boy who has been the center of all the hope in the world for so long break. killian hugs him tightly, staring as the mansion burns to the ground. they do not move until the cruiser is there and david is shouting.

nothing is salvaged, they leave the charred remains and never return. he wonders if she lives among the ashes now.

regina doesn't let the boy of the house for weeks, warding the manor and loft against her dangerous co-parent. killian watches each shield descend upon the house, knowing that it won't keep her out for long. he abandons his ship in the harbour, haunting regina's guest wing.

he finds her in regina's white living room, fiddling with knick knacks set on the mantle, a hand stroking a picture of henry. her nails have become talons and they clack against the frame's glass. she flicks her cold gaze back across her shoulder, eyeing him from the other end of the room, a smirk on her pale face. she says nothing and he is glad for it.

she turns toward him, traipsing to stand in front of him. despite their height difference she is terrifying and all encompassing. she grabs for his hand, the chill of her fingers shocking his, and pulls it toward her, talons tracing the lines in his palm.

emma, no, not emma, sets a glowing bean in his palm and closes his fingers around it, a devilish smirk on her face as she does so. he stares in bewilderment, eyes flicking between his hand and her hard eyes, filled with a deathly amusement.

 _"why?"_  he asks, broken.

 _"it's a game, captain,"_  she says and it's all wrong, the high pitched, childish tone assaulting his ears.  _"find merlin before i do, and you win. if not, then i'll kill him and burn this entire town to the ground."_

she's gone before he can reply, laughter echoing in the distance.

the trio leaves immediately, killian rousing the queen and her boy quickly, both bleary eyed but full of adrenaline. the portal to camelot opens and swallows them.

the game begins, all three deposited in the middle of a lake, fog shrouding any semblance of sight. they reappear on land, regina clutching shirts and panting, water draining off of them as they begin their trek through the deep forest of camelot. it's days before the city's walls greet them and henry has a fever, the boy becoming delirious as killian carries him through the trees.

the dark one plays with them, causing obstacles at every turn (fire, always fire) and creating dead ends wherever she can. breaching camelot's wall is more difficult than they thought, the magical city warded beyond anything regina's encountered. henry's fever subsides eventually, all three watching and waiting for the wards to come down, for emma's power to break them.

the hum and glow shatters after a week and the search to find merlin is desperate. they climb the wall and race through the underbelly of the city, staying out of sight.

in a strange turn of events, merlin finds them, already knowing what they seek.

a blur of fire, magic, and blood is all killian remembers after the dagger is out of regina's hands and in the sorcerer's possession. he can't shake emma's screams from his brain, the piercing sound loud and shrill as merlin banishes the darkness from her. killian watches helplessly as he crucifies her, the dagger in her belly and her screams in the air.

the dagger is destroyed in blood and fire, the trio shielding themselves against the heat of the black flames.

when it is done merlin opens a portal and throws them all in, emma's body toppling onto his as they land near the toll bridge. her blood is everywhere, but she is not dead and she is not dark. the dagger is dust in camelot and she is alive.

they hold her and sob, carrying her to the heart of storybrooke as he weeps.

 _"you won the game,"_  she croaks in her hospital bed, days later, and he chokes on a laugh, tears filling his eyes again.

she is not the same after, but none of them are. she rips off her talons and tears the stitches from her stomach, crying and screaming as the memories of ashes consume her. he does not hold her back from this, he can't, despite the pain in his heart as he watches.

it is a long year before her eyes are not heavy with the weight of her actions, and the golden shine is back under her cheeks. she dreams of fire and her skin is hot as he holds her, each nightmare worse than the last.

 _"i'm burning, i'm burning,"_  she'll cry and he'll hush her.

she throws herself into the harbour more than once to douse her hot skin and he has to dive after her to keep her from letting herself drown. he is reminded of neverland, the mermaids circling as charming rescued her.

it is years before she stops burning and they can sleep peacefully.

_fin_


End file.
